Transparent combination package for cleaning, spin drying, displaying and storing a paint roller

Abstract

This invention has two components, a side delivery spray wand and a transparent plastic package with two compartments. One compartment serves for storage and display of the spray wand, and for guiding and limiting the wand's use in delivering the spray to the paint roller surface. The other compartment serves for storage and display of a paint roller, and is the protective chamber within which a roller is cleaned and spin-dried. The enclosure possesses a small top opening for insertion of the spray wand, and a bottom opening for rapid exhaust of paint-laden solvent. Its two halves are hinged, book-like. When open multiple units nest conveniently. When closed, the compartments are completed, a segment of a paint roller handle is captured, and the seam seals to force all of the paint laden solvent to vent at the exit port.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This disclosure covers the design, construction, and use of a clear plastic package, herein termed the “the transparent combination package” which replaces the handled cone element of the PAINT ROLLER AND SPIN DRYER described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,116,255, and incorporates and uses an adaptation of the spray wand element described and protected by that US patent, invented and filed by this same inventor, William R. Walter on May 4, 1998 (application Ser. No. 09 / 072,072). The “transparent combination package” herein disclosed is a truly novel device, unanticipated in the prior invention, and which possesses features and improvements that enhance its manufacturability, marketability and utility over every patented device reviewed. It was the quest for improving the performance and reducing the production cost of the protective enclosure element of that prior invention, which led to an adaptation of the design to fit a manufacturing process termed “In-line vacufo...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0022]Disclosed herein is an apparatus whereby a paint roller can quickly be cleaned, fluffed, and rendered damp-dry, with the operator and cleaning area completely shielded from the splatter of solvent and paint. The washing and spin-drying actions are produced by a high velocity single jet of water, or other solvent, delivered through a hand-held spray wand within the confines of a clear plastic enclosure. This enclosure envelops the roller whether for display, cleaning, spin-drying, or storage. The enclosure possesses a small top-opening for insertion of the side delivery spray wand, and a bottom-opening for rapid exhaust of paint-laden solvent, and is sealed along the seams where the two halves of the closed package join to force all of the paint laden solvent to vent at the designed exit port. The enclosure mates with a segment of a paint roller frame in such a way that the roller handle protrudes, permitting the operator to hold the roller, with the transparent combination package firmly attached, in the hand of choice, and to manipulate the spray wand with the other hand.DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTIONA Transparent Combination Package for Cleaning, Spin Drying, Displaying, and Storing a PAINT ROLLER

[0027]Transparency is an essential feature for the device to function as a display package and useful in its other functions. The handle indexing channels serve to hold a paint roller handle firmly in such a fashion that an attached roller is free to rotate within the roller chamber. The spray wand channel is aligned alongside the roller chamber with open communication along the full length of both, providing a spray pathway from the wand channel into the roller chamber, and designed so as to limit the spray wand's range of rotation and prevent its inadvertent withdrawal. The roller chamber when closed is cylindrical in shape, with space at both ends and within its circumference to allow an enclosed roller to spin freely. The chamber is sealed to contain the cleaning process, to collect all the paint-laden solvents and to deliver them through the exhaust port into an appropriate receptacle.

[0029]This combination package can be thought of as a simple enclosure formed from a single sheet of clear plastic, having front and back halves, which are hinged, book like, to form the complete unit. When open flat, numerous enclosure units may be stacked for efficient quantity packaging. Its simplicity and low unit cost commend it for adaptation to fit nearly any conceivable style or size of paint roller.

Problems solved by technology

Although four score or more patents of this genre have been issued within the past two decades, paint specialty and general merchandise stores rarely offer any selection.

This attempt to provide “full length cleaning coverage” seriously reduces the penetrating and spinning power available in normal domestic water systems.

Likewise, unless the jets are closely spaced, these devices leave poorly cleaned bands on the paint roller.

Being continuous, such a spray action would eliminate the “banded cleaning effect” of the previous eight devices, but it shares the main problem, a serious reduction in penetrating and spinning power by spreading that force over the entire length of the roller.

The principal defect of this device is its limited usability.

Most of the paint roller handles on the market would not fit this device, even if it were available.

Other defects include enclosed bottom, seriously occluded exhaust which allows accumulation of swirling liquid during spin drying as well as design features adversely effecting manufacturability and cost.

This is time consuming and messy.b) Devices which leave the finished roller too wet for immediate reuse or for storage.c) Devices which cannot provide deep cleaning and high speed spin action because the available force of the spray is spread throughout the full length of the roller.d) Devices that are unable to accommodate the variety of common roller designs.e) Devices such as my own invention, cited earlier, where the process is not always fully and dependably contained, where further cost reductions can be achieved by design modifications, or where previously unanticipated features can add to its usefulness.

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